Used CO2 Tanks?

Anyone have any suggestions on where I can find a good deal on a couple of used 20 LB. CO2 tanks? I need to obtain a couple more, but do not want to drop $100 on a new one because it will just be exchanged at the local gas distributor. I've looked at several of the local (Denver) businesses, none sell cheap or lease. Also checked Craigslist and eBay (really don't want to get it off of eBay; can't inspect it first, don't know if it is stamped by a bottling company - local places won't fill company owned tanks), there was nothing good. Any thoughts or ideas? Thanks.

I saw some steel tanks on ebay yesterday with a buy it now price of $50 + shipping

nkonkie said:

I saw some steel tanks on ebay yesterday with a buy it now price of $50 + shipping

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Thanks for the response. I didn't see those when I did a search; all the ones I saw were either of questionable quality/origin, or the shipping killed the deal. Of course I'm not a big fan of their search function - never seem to get exactly what I want. Would you happen to have a link? Thanks.

No sorry I couldn't find it today. The guy may have sold it

From what I see posted here you really gotta be careful about buying tanks on
ebay.

It sucks , right before I got into brewing there was a 20Lb co2 tank sitting by the dumpster (new looking). Something told me to grab it, but I said why would i need it.
1 week later I was gathering equipment and getting into brewing.

The beer gods were laughing that day.

G-E-R-M-A-N said:

It sucks , right before I got into brewing there was a 20Lb co2 tank sitting by the dumpster (new looking). Something told me to grab it, but I said why would i need it.
1 week later I was gathering equipment and getting into brewing.

The beer gods were laughing that day.

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maybe not it could have been stolen, or out of date then you might have had to pay for a hydrostatic test. Also the gas co. may have recognized it as their's and charged you 2 years rent.

It seems you may be better off renting a tank. It irritates me that the folks around here want to exchange my nice new aluminum tank for an old steel one. And the folks that will fill my tank all want 2x the money.

I have bought a couple tanks of eBay with no problem at all. I have also bought one at a yard sale for only $10 and found a 20# tank next to a dumpster.

I exchanged the found tank. It was unmarked as to an owner and was also a couple years out of certification. The exchange place (AirGas) gave me another with no questions asked and didn't charge me for the hydrotesting and certification my old tank would need. The tank they gave me was clearly stamped "Property of PepsiCo". I have had it filled since (filling is cheaper than exchanges) and never had any problem regarding "ownership" of the tank.

The big think to watch out for if getting one off eBay, is to make sure the tank is undamaged and preferably with a recent certification. Make sure the seller actually states this in the auction ad. That way you can go back to them if they have misrepresented the item. EBay will also put pressure on them to make good. As far as being ugly goes, that's only cosmetic. It doesn't affect whether it holds pressure. If it is too ugly for you, exchange it. I traded an incredibly ugly one in for a nice pristine freshly painted one with no problem at all.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

For me, the cosmetic thing isn't an issue. The tank is either inside the kegerator where nobody can see it, so appearance doesn't matter. Or it's sitting out of the kegerator in open view, in which case you've already made the decision that the appearance of the whole setup doesn't matter. Either way, who cares what the tank looks like.

The part that does bug me is that I'm currently shopping for a tank and all I can find is new aluminum ones. I'd be delighted to pay half the price for a butt-ugly steel tank if I could just frickin' find one somewhere.....

subliminalurge said:

[...]The part that does bug me is that I'm currently shopping for a tank and all I can find is new aluminum ones. I'd be delighted to pay half the price for a butt-ugly steel tank if I could just frickin' find one somewhere.....

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Got an AirGas or similar outlet near you? Or a welder supply company?

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

Got an AirGas or similar outlet near you? Or a welder supply company?

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Actually, many. I just haven't had a chance to call around yet since their hours are RIDICULOUSLY inconvenient. (They're open the exact same hours I'm at work and I've been busy enough lately that personal business doesn't even really pop into my head, much less have time to get on the phone. Yeah, I know, I'm not exactly their target customer... lol....)

Using AirGas or Praxair as an example, how pricey are they to buy or rent the cylinder? And any headache inducing paperwork to set up an account or anything? Deposit?

I was doing some looking online this morning and I can (duh) get a much better initial kegging setup if I can rent the cylinder initially. Of course, a big deposit would cancel that out.

(I'm starting to regret taking a pass on the used sanke fridge kit I looked at last weekend. 5lb cylinder, POS regulator, POS faucet, and a 1/4 bl keg for $75. Hell, that's what a new cylinder is going to cost me (after shipping) if I have to get it online....)

I suppose I could wait until monday to call, but I'd kind of like to get the rest of the system ordered this weekend and which setup I buy pretty much hinges on how much I'm going to have to outlay to get a filled co2 bottle (rented or purchased, whichever comes out less).

Any kind souls willing to overlook my complete lack of preparation on this issue and fill me in on what to expect when I call around on Monday?

If you get a tank at AirGas, you buy it. I couldn't remember if it was a deposit or what, so I called them and they told me it's all mine (my nitrogen tank), and they don't want to buy it back. If you get a tank elsewhere, you can exchange it with them no problem, as long as it doesn't say Coke or Pepsi. My first CO2 tank was way old and out of date and I just swapped it for a full one. Setting up an account took only a couple minutes - I just told them my name, number, and address.

Cool. Any ballpark guesses on what I can expect to pay for a 5# or 10# tank?

Eh, not really. Maybe $75ish? I really don't know. I'd just give them a call Monday and ask how much they run.

You might also want to check a local fire extinguisher store. I found one about two miles from my job and they are the least expensive place in town for CO2. They also sell tanks and are friendly with homebrewers. I got my 5# tank refilled including pulling a vacuum on it before refilling came to $12.73. They charge the same up to 10# tanks, after that it is $3.75/#. Praxair was too far away and they wanted $18 to fill the tank without pulling a vacuum on it. My LHBS wanted $22 for the same.

Jorn, thanks for throwing that in. Praxair is actually the closest one to my work, so I was very tempted to give them a try first. Sounds like it would definitely be worth it to drive a few extra minutes to somewhere else.....

Keep an eye on craigslist. I bought 3 20# tanks last year for $25 each,And I just picked up 4 15# tanks for $20 each just a few weeks ago on craigslist. They were all out of cert, but I think it's only $15 for new cert. They were all marked with either 7up pepsi or coke. Tech air did not care about any stamping on it. In fact they gave me one marked pepsi back as the exhanged tank.

Oh, believe me, I've been watching craigslist like a hawk. Just nothing showing up in my area. If I had the time to be patient, I would, and I do plan to keep watching becuase I'd like to have at least one spare tank on hand, but right now I was just ordering my first kegging setup so I needed to have a tank "now".

I ended up paying $75 for a brand spankin' new 10# cylinder from keg connection that I'm sure will get exchanged for a butt ugly, 30 year old steel one within 30 minutes from fed-ex dropping it off at my door.

Only problem now is I just went back and double checked the measurements on my fridge. My whole plan (4 cornies in a side-by-side, with the tank down below) is out the window with the extra little bit of height on the 10 lb cylinder. (I had designed my setup around the height of a 5 lb, but they had 10 lb cylinders on sale for only $15 more then the 5#, so I couldn't say no to that) No big deal, just going to have to modify my design for the wooded platform a bit.

My local Airgas charges $45 a year for lease on a 20lb tank.

Check your local fire protection company. Co2 is widely used in the fire protection industry in large bulk systems down to small 5 lb extinguishers. If they are a hydro-test facility they will more than likely also be servicing the local soda dealers tanks as well and should have several old tanks laying around.

EDIT: Nevermind, just saw that someone else already suggested it.

Just for what its worth, the fire protection co I work for, we fill 5# for 3.45, 10# for 3.95, Hydro tests are 22 and used tanks (reconditioned) 5#, 10#, 15# are 45, 55, 65 respectively.

I see this question was just brought back to life from 5 months ago, but still good info.

Snafu said:

Just for what its worth, the fire protection co I work for, we fill 5# for 3.45, 10# for 3.95, Hydro tests are 22 and used tanks (reconditioned) 5#, 10#, 15# are 45, 55, 65 respectively.

I see this question was just brought back to life from 5 months ago, but still good info.

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Where do you work? I would love to find someplace local that fills 5lb tanks for < $4!

LKABrewer said:

Where do you work? I would love to find someplace local that fills 5lb tanks for < $4!

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PM sent

I found a guy in Danbury Ct that has Corny kegs and CO2 tanks for sale. Most of the CO2 tanks were out of cert BUT he will fill it for you there.

All reasonably priced. I don't think he would ship them though...

Bigfoot99 said:

Anyone have any suggestions on where I can find a good deal on a couple of used 20 LB. CO2 tanks? I need to obtain a couple more, but do not want to drop $100 on a new one because it will just be exchanged at the local gas distributor. I've looked at several of the local (Denver) businesses, none sell cheap or lease. Also checked Craigslist and eBay (really don't want to get it off of eBay; can't inspect it first, don't know if it is stamped by a bottling company - local places won't fill company owned tanks), there was nothing good. Any thoughts or ideas? Thanks.

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We have one 5tons and 10 tons, send m ur email so I can send u pictutrs